Hewitt admits cabinet split on smoking ban

The health secretary, Patricia Hewitt, today admitted to "real disagreement" in the cabinet over the extent of her bill banning smoking in public places.

Following several reports of rows within the government, Mrs Hewitt conceded that many of her cabinet colleagues wanted to go "that little bit further and faster" than the bill she has presented, by only allowing smoking in pubs which have sealed rooms.

Mrs Hewitt was forced into a retreat yesterday when Tony Blair sided with the defence secretary, John Reid, who believes the government should stick to the Labour manifesto promise to ban smoking only in those pubs serving food.

Mrs Hewitt was forced to accept what Dr Reid called a "British compromise" which went against her own advice and which her aides had called unworkable and weak only days before.

Private members' clubs and pubs that do not serve food will now be exempt under proposals which the Department of Health will publish in detail later today.

Asked if it was difficult to defend a bill she didn't believe in, Mrs Hewitt told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "Not at all. The bill that I am introducing today is going to ban smoking in every office, in every factory, every shop, every restaurant, every [form of] public transport, virtually every enclosed public space and work space."

"That means that 99% of the workforce will be in a totally smoke-free environment. This is an enormous step forward for public health. It is going to protect people from second-hand smoke, it is going to make it easier for people who want to give up smoking to do so, and because of that over time it will save thousands of lives of people who would otherwise have died from smoking-related diseases."

However, she acknowledged: "Many of us would have liked to go that little bit further and faster.

"There is total agreement on 99% of the policy. On the 1%, not only in government but I think across the country, there was real disagreement."

"That is why we did what any organisation does in that situation, we sat down, we discussed it amongst ourselves - it spilled out a bit into the public, but we discussed it among ourselves - and we agreed the way forward that is in line with the manifesto on which we were all re-elected five months ago."

After criticism from anti-smoking campaigners as well as trade unionists that staff would be left to inhale dangerous second-hand smoke, Mrs Hewitt said "smoking in the bar area will be prohibited everywhere".

A review into the operation of the policy would be conducted within three years, she said, which would leave the door open for her own preferred solution of a sealed smoking room.

Speaking earlier on GMTV, Mrs Hewitt said: "We are going to consult on ... setting aside a separate smoking area or smoking room so that we can give the staff as much protection as possible."

Ms Hewitt admitted that there were disadvantages to the compromise she had been forced to accept.

"The fact is there are disadvantages to every proposal. That is why there has been such a disagreement, such a heated discussion about this - trying to find the right way forward where we balance protection, particularly for bar workers, from other people's smoking, against the right of adults to do what a significant minority want to do."

David Taylor, the Labour chairman of the all-party parliamentary group on smoking and health, was angry that John Reid had scuppered a complete ban. "It is perverse that, apparently, an MP for a Scottish constituency is weakening a bill which will not affect his own area, which will be benefiting from March 2006 from comprehensive smoking legislation of the sort we are seeking in England."

On the definition of a food serving pub, Ms Hewitt was asked whether a packet of crisps constituted served food. She said: "A packet of crisps, no."